Why not to rely on standard views

Anyone who’s attended one of Tasha’s presentations in the last three years knows that she always recommends using the COUNTER Reports rather than the standard views. We built Release 5 from the ground up to be a powerful, flexible and comprehensive usage reporting framework. It replaced the more content-specific reports required in Release 4. To help report consumers (libraries) make the transition to Release 5, we designed a selection of standard views – pre-configured filters of the COUNTER Reports – that mimicked the old Release 4 reports. In this guide, we’ve provided comparison tables to help you spot the limitations of standard views.

Please note: the comparisons on this page are presented as images, as that is the best way to compare the contents of the Reports and the standard views. There is alt-text for each image, but the PDF version of this guide may be more accessible for screen readers.

Platform Report versus PR_P1

The PR_P1 standard view eliminates two Access_Types, one Access_Method, and three metrics. It includes all of the Data_Types that are available in the PR, so for ease of reading we’ve not included that element in this table.

Database Report versus DR_D1 and DR_D2

The DR and its derivative standard views exclude information about Access_Type, so that element is not shown in the table. Both DR_D1 and DR_D2 aggregate metrics by database, meaning it is not possible to see usage or denial information by Data_Type in the standard views. They also both eliminate TDM usage, and only show a limited subset of metrics.

Title Report versus TR_B series standard views

The TR_B series of standard views eliminate all Data_Types other than Book and Reference_Work. They are all restricted to a single Access_Method, with a limited subset of metrics, and in most cases exclude all but Controlled usage.

Title Report versus TR_J series standard views

The TR_J series of standard views eliminate all Data_Types other than Journal. They are all restricted to a single Access_Method, with a limited subset of metrics, and in most cases exclude all but Controlled usage.

Item Report versus IR_A1 and IR_M1

The standard views of IR show all three Access_Types, so that element is excluded from the table for ease of reading. Like other standard view, IR_A1 and IR_M1 eliminates one Access_Method and several metrics.